I'm not saying traction control is a bad thing. It will save you in emergency situations and extreme conditions... But I do believe people are too reliant on technology to save them from what people learned to do without before.

I personally drive with the nannies on because even though I've been driving cars without traction control/DSC for over 20 years all have been front wheel drive with the exception of one. That one car just happened to be a V8 but nowhere near as powerful as this M3. I can drive but am not the Stig and would love to keep enjoying the car at the limit of my ability and common sense. I'm reasonably confident I'd catch most mistakes with DSC defeated but what if I don't. I like to drive spirited like everyone else but we're all on public roads.

Tires break loose very easily when you are going around a turn. Combine that with the fact that the tires are bald and you're in a 400Hp RWD car and you have to realize that, in order for the traction control to keep you from breaking loose, it would most likely have to slow your car down to a crawl... Most people don't want their M3 to bog/crawl no matter the scenario. You have to control the car, the traction control is just there to assist

Cars just weren't this powerful. If you go back a number of years, most Ferraris and Lamborghinis had less power and torque than the current M3. I remember back to 1994 when the Toyota Supra had 320hp and I was thinking "holy shit".

In 1983 when I bought my first car, a Mustang GT, it was the fastest production American car that year. It did 0-60 in 7.1 seconds and made 175hp with its 5 liter V8 and 4 barrel carburator. And we all know how much hp the top end Mustang produces today !!!!

You really have to go back to the muscle car days to see big power and torque, and even then, it was really only a handful of cars that did this. And yes, they were a nightmare to control.

It really is modern traction management systems that allows for the powerful cars of today to be driven by most mortals in relative safety on public roadways.

Don't forget the fact that back in the days the cars were a lot lighter too. So the lack of HP was met by lower weight.

Cars just weren't this powerful. If you go back a number of years, most Ferraris and Lamborghinis had less power and torque than the current M3. I remember back to 1994 when the Toyota Supra had 320hp and I was thinking "holy shit".

In 1983 when I bought my first car, a Mustang GT, it was the fastest production American car that year. It did 0-60 in 7.1 seconds and made 175hp with its 5 liter V8 and 4 barrel carburator. And we all know how much hp the top end Mustang produces today !!!!

You really have to go back to the muscle car days to see big power and torque, and even then, it was really only a handful of cars that did this. And yes, they were a nightmare to control.

It really is modern traction management systems that allows for the powerful cars of today to be driven by most mortals in relative safety on public roadways.

Good post...my first car was a 1985 GT. However even though the HP was low, these cars still made nearly 300 lb-ft of torque...as much as an M3 today...and the tires back then were horrible...so it was still easy to get it sideways (by accident) around corners.